In Uzbekistan, Hints of a Successor Emerge

Few concrete details have been released since the Aug. 29 announcement that Uzbek President Islam Karimov had suffered a brain hemorrhage, but several hints have emerged as to who his successor might be. On Aug. 31, Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, one of the prime candidates to succeed the longtime leader of the Central Asian republic, laid flowers at an independence monument in Tashkent in a notable symbolic gesture. He is also rumored to be planning to address the country on Sept. 1, its independence day. While there is still no confirmation of how the succession process will play out, or even of the state of Karimov's health, recent indications point to Mirziyoyev being in the best position to succeed Karimov....